When it comes to recruiting, colleges will use whatever resources they have to encourage recruits to sign on the dotted line come National Signing Day. Since recruiting is so competitive among the different schools, schools will sometimes stretch the truth and even flat out lie to recruits just to gain an edge over other competitors.
Take Baylor for example. Baylor is located in Waco, Tx, not exactly a very happening place if you have ever been there. So how does Baylor combat rival recruiters from saying Waco is some college town in the middle of nowhere with nothing to do? They make up the fact that there are several food franchises and companies looking to branch out to Waco in the near future.
Recruiting is about so much more than just playing time. It’s about convincing an 18-year-old kid that your campus and its surroundings are fun place to spend the next four years. That can mean promising an In-N-Out when there’s no actual In-N-Out on the way.
At left is a poster that was spotted at a recruiting event at Baylor over the weekend. Cooked up by the athletic department, it promises a bunch of really exciting new store openings in Waco, plus an Omni hotel (the kids love the Omni, apparently). When the picture got around, Baylor students and Wacoites got really excited—they’ve been clamoring for some of these for years! But the Waco Tribune has fact-checked the poster, and it’s more wishful thinking than anything else.
Pappas Restaurants group Spokeswoman Christina Pappas on Monday debunked the claims that the company would be building an eatery in Waco.
“We are not building any locations in Waco,” Pappas said in an email to the Tribune-Herald.
In-N-Out and Whole Foods, too, have no plans to open up stores in Waco—though they have reportedly studied the possibility.
In Waco’s defense, it will be getting a Potbelly and an Uncle Mario’s later this year.
That’s what I call Crootin’ folks. These coaching staffs are out telling these recruits whatever they want to hear and whatever they need to hear to get them to commit to their schools. Having been through Waco several times myself, I can see why Baylor is using these tactics with recruits.